Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at at Time

Mark Adams

What happens when an unadventurous adventure writer tries to re-create the original expedition to Machu Picchu?

In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and ‘discovered’ Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archaeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorer’s perilous path in search of the truth—except Adams had written about adventure far more than he’d actually lived it. In fact, he’d never even slept in a tent.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu is Adams’s fascinating and funny account of his journey through some of the world’s most majestic, historic and remote landscapes guided only by a hard-as-nails Australian survivalist and one nagging question: what was the purpose of Machu Picchu?

Mark Adams is the author of the acclaimed history Mr. America, which The Washington Post named a Best Book of 2009. A writer for many publications, including GQ, Outside and The New York Times, he lives near New York City with his wife and children.